Articles from September 2009

Every morning my husband showers and shaves, puts on a good looking suit, has a bowl of granola and takes the train into the city. Twelve hours later, he walks back in the door. His collar is open, his tie is loose, but his pomaded hair has not moved a bit.

Hi ladies ~

First, Christopher likes school (and I daresay he is even excited about school sometimes!!), he just doesn’t like the process of going to school. This holds true for many other activities: he likes the playground, but doesn’t like going to the playground; he likes the swimming pool, but getting him out the door to get to the swimming pool can be like pulling teeth The list goes on and on – he’s just a kid that’s hard to get out of the door. The reason that I’ve focused on the particular transition of him starting Kindergarten is that I would like to make sure that I’m sending him off for the day with a loving attitude – it is a longer day than he’s used to, and I want him to feel happy and supported as he leaves in the morning.

So I’m wondering why so many friends and family have forwarded me the link to this story? Is a 19.2 pound baby going to make me somehow feel better about my tendency to have very large babies? Or maybe this is just funny and I fail to see the humor because my due date is 11 days away and I’m rather anxious about my baby’s size. I have a hope that she will be smaller than my last (10 pounds 13 ounces), I’m praying she won’t top 11 pounds, and I’m really praying for a healthy delivery free of any broken collar bones. But I am frightened that a woman’s body could grow a child THAT large. I’m praying my body is not capable of this feat. I don’t have gestational diabetes, so that’s a start.

The last days of pregnancy seem to be a real emotional battle for me. One day I’m optimistic that it will soon be over, the next moment I can actually convince myself that I will be the first woman to be pregnant forever. In the last weeks, as the sleepless nights increase, my ability to view my situation with a level head practically disappears. I start dreaming about robbing the local pharmacy and injecting myself with pitocin. I scour the internet for labor inducing techniques and I actually start believing that eating pineapple will put me into labor. In my more sane moments, I remember MaryAlice’s wise words, “If chinese food or spicy mexican food or pineapple actually put women into labor, there would be no need for pitocin.” I realize how irrationally I’m behaving. Suddenly, I feel trapped, hopeless, and depressed. I then think about my baby, and I feel guilty for having any depression–how lucky I am!

The insanity continues, day after day, sometimes for several weeks, and then it happens. Labor begins and in the time it takes to watch a football game (or at least I hope that’s the length of my labor!), I have a beautiful baby in my arms. The babymoon ensues, and most of my suffering is soon forgotten.

The end of pregnancy is so hard precicesly because it is so unpredictable. The wait, the uncertainty, the what if’s dominate those last weeks. I am reminded each day, and often each hour, that I am not in control. For a type A control freak like me, this lesson is hard to swallow. I pray for the grace during these last days to trust in God’s plan, and in his perfect timing.

My little boy is a homebody through and through. Yes, he loves to play with the boys in our neighborhood and is always asking for play-dates, and yes, once we arrive somewhere he usually has a pretty great time. But his tendency is, and has been for the 5 1/2 years of his life, to stay home and play, create, read, and generally just BE at home. I’ve grown to appreciate this part of Christopher’s personality: he can occupy himself and become absorbed in creative play, he is happy to sit on the couch and read stories all morning, and he loves it when our family has a “special breakfast” on mom and dad’s bed. Yes, it can be hard to get out the door for activities, but these transitions have become somewhat easier with time.

One transition that has been somewhat difficult recently is getting Christopher off to school in the morning. Now that Christopher is in Kindergarten, the school bus picks him up at 7:43 a.m. and drops him back home at 3:23 p.m., quite a long day for a 5 year-old! His preference would be to wake up, play in his room for half an hour, eat a leisurely breakfast, and watch a show on PBS Kids. Then, I think he might be ready to head to school The reality is that my mornings are often spent trying to move my little guy along from one task to the next: making his bed, getting dressed, and eating breakfast, not to mention the dreaded task of putting on his socks and shoes. The idea is that C would do all of these tasks by himself, and if he moves quickly enough he should have enough time to play for a little while before the bus arrives. However, because he is reluctant to head out the door in the first place, C often drags through each task and we’re usually rushing out the door just in time to meet the bus.

Great post on burnout at Conversion Diary.

Read it, then go get some sleep.

The most wonderful and most fearful fact of early childhood development is one we’re all familiar with: the fastest brain growth occurs between birth and age three, and children are capable of learning the most and the most capable of learning between birth and age five. Something like that, right?

Every pop early childhood education book I’ve read has exploited that fact as its selling point and cornerstone. Do our “x, y and z” plan (and buy our CDs, DVDs, flashcards, workbooks, and equipment) to be sure you’re maximizing your child’s most acute learning years.

We have been Sigg fans for awhile. My kids carry around their bottles like security blankets and we don’t leave home without them (see wagon cupholders). If they are hurt or sad they sob, “I want my water bottle.” When Jack-Jack left his when out with his Grandma, we paid to have another yellow one shipped from Canada, the only one left in North America. Which is why I was so sad to see that the liners contain BPA, precisely what we were aiming to avoid. There is a voluntary exchange program until the end of October. For us returning their water bottles will be like taking away a cherished blankie or teddy bear. I’m not sure if it’s better for them to ingest chemicals or to have their hearts broken!

I used to tell people that I am a great mom for 12 hours a day — I can work non stop from 7 am to 7 pm. If my day with the kids starts before that or ends after, however, it gets dicey.

…in your backyard, and in full view of your school room, school for the day is canceled. It is completely IMPOSSIBLE to get any formal schooling accomplished under these conditions.

Instead, we are talking about trees, ropes, climbing, chainsaws, and physics–and I will say, even as an adult, I am amazed at what these tree guys are able to accomplish with a few ropes and a chainsaw.

The excitement from last months lightning strike on our 150 year old tree seems to never end. I just wish the cost of tree removal were a bit cheaper. From a financial perspective, today might be one of the most “expensive” lessons of our entire year.